Reading the Lightning Thief
by JLgods01
Summary: Camp Half-Blood is sent back in time to read books about their missing hero. How will everyone react? What's up with Jason? Jealous? Read to find out. Not really good with summaries.
1. Jealous Much?

Jealous Much?

At Camp Half-Blood

Jason POV

It was a bright sunny day at Camp Half-Blood. I guess Lord Apollo was in a good mood.

- Thunder rumbling-

Yes I was right! I'm Jason Grace son of Jupiter, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion and Leader of Camp Half-Blood I thought smugly. Then I heard talking.

" Did you hear, I heard Percy Jackson defeated Ares when he was twelve on his first," the boy stated.

" That's amazing, the only thing I fought when I was twelve was a hellhound and barely survived," the girl replied.

With that I walked away. I couldn't help but think jealously how that was impossible. I mean I defeated the titan Krios when I was sixteen and barely survived. I bet this kid just made all that stuff up. He's probably stuck-up too. The conch horn sounded. Lunch I thought with a sigh. I walked by the Aphrodite table just to hear a conversation about _Percy Jackson_.

" Piper, sweetheart, Percy is really hot, I mean really hot," Drew said while showing her a picture of on a swim with who looked like Lord Neptune, shirtless.

" I mean Jason can't even compare, if only he wasn't with Annabeth."

" Maybe," Piper admitted, " I can't wait to meet him, and he sounds like a great guy."

UGH even Piper liked him and it didn't help that Leo practically worshipped him. Then it finally got to me.

" UGH WHAT IS IT THAT PERCY JACKSON HAVE THAT I DON'T? I DEFEATED A TITAN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. DID HE DO THAT? HUH?" I practically screamed.

Almost everyone had their weapons drawn and all of Percy's close friend stood up and opened their mouths to retort of yell back to defend their friend/family/leader when suddenly a bright light flashed and engulfed all of Camp Half-Blood.


	2. Introductions

Introductions

Poseidon POV

It was another boring winter solstice meeting. Zeus droning on and on about stuff trying to ignore Hera who was yelling at him about being unfaithful.

Ares and Hephaestus were arguing over Aphrodite who seemed to be loving the attention.

Athena was yelling in my ear for who knows what.

Artemis and Apollo were arguing about the Hunt.

Dionysus and Hermes looked bored out of his mind.

Demeter and Hades were arguing about Persephone.

Lastly, Hestia was tending the fire quietly. She really is the perfect sister.

Huh a usual day on Olympus. All of a sudden there was a bright flash and about two hundred demigods along with Chiron and a satyr stood in its place.

Annabeth POV

When the light died down I surveyed our surroundings. It looked liked we were on Olympus, but something was different. Then it hit me. I realized this was Olympus before the war, before I rebuilt it. Zeus and the other gods finally recovered from shock.

" WHO ARE YOU?" he thundered.

Thalia stepped forward.

" What do you mean, you don't recognize us?" she asked.

" Should we?" my mom asked.

" Mom, its me Annabeth," I said stepping forward.

" B-b-but you're only four," my mom for the first time at lost for words.

" What year is it?" I asked.

" 2000."

I gasp, " We're from twelve years in the future."

" OW!" Nico suddenly yelped, " These books and note fell on my head, OW!"

" Stop whining Death Breath," Thalia said.

The camp snickered.

" Read the note," Zeus boomed.

_I have sent Camp Half-Blood into the _

_past to read books about a certain hero_

_Will the thirteen demigods, Chiron, mortal, and satyr _

_please introduce themselves, full titles. You _

_might be able to change the future. Do not _

_kill or harm the demigods. More visitors will be_

_coming later in the story._

_Signed,_

_The fates and_

_Lord Apollo, the awesomest god ever_

" See, I am the awesomest god ever!" Apollo exclaimed.

" Sit down! What are the books names and who are they about?" Artemis commanded/asked.

" Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, Titans Curse, Battle of Labyrinth, and the Last Olympian." Hermes replied.

Immediately all of Camp Half-Blood's faces saddened except Jason. What's up with him?

" I take it you know who Percy Jackson is?" Hermes asked.

" yeah he's a close friend," I answered.

" well introduce yourselves so we can begin reading," Zeus yelled.

I stepped up first.

" Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and official Architect of Olympus."

Athena looked proud.

" why would Olympus need an architect?" Apollo asked.

Nobody answered. Not that nobody.

" Thalia Grace daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis."

Hades and Hera glared at Zeus.

" what happened to Zoë?" Artemis asked.

" it'll be in the books."

" Nico Di Angelo son of Hades, Ghost King, and for the record, I was born before the oath but was put in the Lotus Casino and Hotel."

" I ordered you to kill him Hades," Zeus said.

" what makes you think I would kill my own son," Hades shot back, " And where is Bianca,"

Nico saddened, " its in the books."

" Piper McLean daughter of Aphrodite, charm speaker."

" Leo awesome Valdez son of the awesome god Hephaestus, fire user."

" Clarisse la Rue daughter of Ares, drakon slayer."

" drakon?" Ares asked amazed.

Clarisse nodded.

" boo yeah!" Ares cheered.

" Katie Gardner daughter of Demeter."

" Travis."

" Connor."

" STOLL son of the awesome god Hermes."

" Will Solace son of Apollo."

" Jake mason son of Hephaestus."

" Grover underwood satyr Lord of the Wild."

" What?" Zeus asked.

" its in the books."

" Chiron centaur immortal trainer of heroes."

" Rachel Elizabeth Dare mortal Oracle of Delphi."

" Yes my oracle changed bodies and this one moves!" Apollo exclaimed.

" Jason Grace son of Jupiter praetor of the Twelfth Legion and Leader of Camp Half-Blood," he said smugly.

" you're not our leader, Percy is and always will be!" I glare.

" what's a roman doing with Greeks?" Ares asked.

" the future is really messed up," Leo replied.

" another Grace, why an oath you can't keep brother?" Hades asked while glaring at Zeus.

" who will read first," Zeus asked ignoring the question and glare.

" I will father," Thalia volunteered.

He passed her the book.

" I Accidently Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher." Thalia began reading.


	3. Vaporizing PreAlgebra Teachers

**Before I begin Chapter 3, I would like to first of all to thank all my viewers. Second of all I would like to give full credit of chapter 2 and the whole jealous Jason thing to Sadie Breezy. If you like jealous Jason, check out her Reading the Last Olympian. Now with out further ado (-laughs-) I give you Chapter 3/**

I Accidently Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher

Thalia POV

I Accidently vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher I read.

" What a weird title," Leo commented.

"You're weird," Piper retorted.

-Pause-

"Touché."

Piper sighs.

**Look I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

" Who does?" Katie asked.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: **

" AHHHHH IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!" the Stoll's screamed.

Katie got up and smacked them.

" What's up with them?" Piper asked.

" Word of the wise, don't listen to Percy's advice unless you want a death sentence," Annabeth replied.

**close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

That doesn't sound so bad Piper thought.

" Not bad, but it ain't gonna happen Kelp Head," I smirked, but stopped when I realized he wasn't here. I frowned. I'll find you Kelp-for-brains, then I'll beat the crap out of you.

I went back to reading.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

Check.

**It's scary.**

Double check.

**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

Triple check.

" And loving every minute of it," Clarisse beamed. The Ares cabin nodded in agreement.

Ares smiled proudly.

" Only a true child of Ares would love danger," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

" Is it really that bad?" Aphrodite asked.

The silence in the room gave the answer.

**If you're a normal kid reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

" I second that," all the campers chorused.

The gods that had children looked down guiltily.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately. You might one of us. And once your know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

" Who are they?" Leo stupidly asked.

" Monsters you idiot," Piper smacked him.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

" But you didn't warn me," the Stolls, Leo, and Nico chorused.

Katie, Piper, and I took the honor of smacking them.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

" Nice to me you."

Poseidon paled. Percy, it can't be, he's only four.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid?**

"YES!" all of Percy's close friends and Clarisse yelled.

The gods watched this amused with one thought running through their heads: How much trouble can one demigod get into?

**Yeah. You could say that.**

" He even admits it," Leo laughed.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it,**

" Short? Yeah. Miserable? Yeah," I said.

Poseidon paled.

**but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-cased kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

" Roman?" Jason asked a bit interested.

" That sounds interesting," Athena and Annabeth said together.

Athena smiled at Annabeth, which Annabeth pleasantly returned with a hint of sadness.

Athena noticed and frowned.

" No, it sounds like torture," Poseidon complained. All the boys nodded in agreement. The girls rolled their eyes.

**I know- it sounds like torture.**

Poseidon blushed. Everyone laughed.

_Like father like son _I thought.

**Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher was leading this trip, so I had hopes. Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair.**

" Ooohh I'm going to make one," Leo squealed.

Wait squealed?

" I bet I can make it better," Hephaestus challenged.

" You're on."

Everyone smiled at the interaction between father and son.

**He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee**

" Chiron?" I asked.

He nodded.

**You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

" He sleeps in class!" Athena and Annabeth huffed although Annabeth had a small smile.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

Not gonna happen Fish Face," Nico stated.

**Boy was I wrong.**

" Of course you were."

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

-Silence-

Then everyone burst out laughing. Apollo, Hermes, the Hermes cabin, Leo, and Nico were rolling on the floor laughing clutching their sides.

" T-t-t-that's hilarious, is he your son Hermes?" Apollo asked in between laughs.

" N-n-no but I would be the proudest father ever, n-n-not that I'm not now, but that's pranking gold," Hermes replied.

Once everyone settled down, I continued reading.

**And before that, at my fifth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and the class took an unplanned swim.**

Everyone burst out laughing again.

**And the time before that… well you get the idea.**

" Nooooo, don't stop, this is pranking gold!" the Stolls whined. Hermes smiled proudly.

**This trip I was determined to be good.**

" Nooooooo, don't break the record," the Stolls, Hermes, Apollo, and Leo yelled.

" Oh don't worry, he doesn't," Grover assured.

The troublemakers beamed brightly.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl hitting my best friend Grover in the back of his head with chunks of peanut butter-and- ketchup sandwich.**

" You got that right, I'm your best friend," Grover boasted.

" Hate to break it to you Goat Boy, but I am," Annabeth argued.

" You're different," Grover retorted.

" Different as in…" Aphrodite squealed.

" NOOO! He means I'm his best friend out of the girls at camp," Annabeth explained.

" Sorry Annie, I am," I argued.

" Ugh not this fight again," the campers groaned.

" What fight?" the gods asked.

The campers just pointed.

Annabeth glared.

" Hey you guys forgetting me?" Rachel asked.

We continued arguing.

" Man, I'm glad I'm Percy's only guy best friend," Grover said.

The campers groaned. Here we go again.

" No way I am," Nico protested.

And the arguing continued.

The gods watched the fight amused. Who was this Percy Jackson and why was he so special? Meanwhile Jason was red with jealousy.

" Alright break it up, let's get back to reading ," father intervened.

" Fine, but this isn't over, we'll ask Percy," I said.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated.**

" Gee, thanks a lot Percy," Grover said sarcastically.

We all laughed.

**He must've been held back several grades, because was he was the only sixth-grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of that, he was crippled.**

" Great friend," Grover muttered frowning.

We laughed again.

**He had a note excusing him from P.E. for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

" GROVER!"

" What, it's really good," Grover said it like it explained everything.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck to his curly brown hair,**

"I'm going to kill her," I grumbled.

**and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death**

"WHAT!" Poseidon and Annabeth boomed.

" Wait you guys didn't let me finish," I said.

**by in-school suspension**

" Oh," Poseidon and Annabeth blushed.

**if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip. " I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Do it!" almost everyone chanted.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

" Yeah but not in my hair," Leo said.

" Not as much as Tyson," Annabeth said.

I nodded and grinned.

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. " That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

" Goat Boy," Clarisse whined.

" For once I agree with her," I said.

" Read," Grover simply said.

" **You're already on probation," he reminded me, " You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.**

" So do I," Clarisse and I said.

**In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the messy was about to get myself into.**

Poseidon paled.

" Why?" Leo asked.

" Why don't we read and find out," Piper suggested sweetly.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

" Longer."

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx**

Annabeth winced.

**on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker.**

Hmmmmm why does she sound familiar Hades and Nico thought.

**She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, loved nancy Bobofit and figured I was a devil spawn.**

" No that's Nico," I stated.

" Ye_ _ HEY!" Nico cried indignantly.

We all laughed.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say " Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math worksheets until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, " You're absolutely right."**

"GROVER!" we exclaimed.

" Sorry," he muttered.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, " Will you shut up?"**

" Go Percy!" Hermes, Apollo, and Camp Half-Blood cheered.

Jason scowled.

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

Jason snickered and smirked.

Poseidon, Annabeth, Nico, and I glared. He shrunk back. I smirked.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. " Mr. Jackson," he said, " did you have a comment?" my face was totally red. I said, " no, sir." Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?" I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. " That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

" UGH, it just had to be that one," Hades complained.

" For once, I agree with Death Breath," father agreed.

" Sorry," Chiron said.

He gave me a pointed look and I continued reading.

" **Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. " And he **_**did**_** this because…" " Well…" I racked my brain to remember. " Kronos was the king god, and"**

" GOD!" Zeus thundered.

" He's just learning," Poseidon defended.

"**God?" Mr. Brunner asked. " Titan," I corrected myself.**

" See."

" **And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead.**

" How do you confuse dad with a rock?" I asked.

" well, you see niece. Your father looks very much like a rock," uncle Poseidon smirked.

" I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A ROCK!" father boomed.

We all laughed.

" Read," he ordered.

I rolled my eyes but continued for his sake.

**And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up brothers and sisters-" " Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

" Eeew is right," Demeter said making a face.

"**- and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, " and the gods won."**

" He just summed up a whole lot of fighting into one sentence," Apollo pointed out.

" That's Percy," Nico shrugged.

**Some snickers were heard from the group. Behind me, nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, " Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids."**

" You wouldn't know _mortal_," I said dangerously.

" Hey," Rachel cried.

" Sorry RED."

" **And why, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, " to paraphrase Miss. Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

" Busted!" the troublemakers and Nico exclaimed.

" **Busted," Grover muttered.**

"AHHH, we think like a goat," they said horrified.

We laughed.

" **Shut up," nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only teacher who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

" Those ears have ruined so many great pranks," the Stolls pouted.

Chiron and the campers smiled. Thank the gods they thought.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. " I don't know, sir." " I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. " well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made his disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" **

"Happy note?" Hermes asked.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around acting like doofuses.**

" When aren't they?" Artemis asked.

" When they're saving the world," I replied.

Everyone, mainly Artemis, looked shocked.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, " Mr. Jackson." I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. " sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

" Not everything but close enough," Jake said.

Everyone jumped because we forgot he was there.

" **You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. " About the titan?" " About real life. And how your studies apply to it." " Oh."**

" Typical Percy answered," Will chuckled.

" **What you learn from me," he said, " is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

" It's for the best Seaweed Brain," Annabeth whispered.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of roman armor and shouted: " What ho!" ' and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and roman person who had ever **_**lived**_**, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No- he didn't expect me to be **_**as good**_**; he expected me to be **_**better. **_**And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

" I here you bro," the Stolls, Nico, and Leo agreed.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. **

" What are you two fighting over now?" Hera asked.

Poseidon shrugged, " Probably his fault."

Father glared.

**I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snowstorms, flooding, and wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

" Of course," almost everyone mumbled.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere. "Detention?" Grover asked."Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius. "Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

" Deep Grover," I laughed.

He blushed.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. **

Hermes and Apollo beamed.

**I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give . Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap."Oops." **

Everyone gritted their teeth.

**She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos. I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

"WHAT!" Zeus boomed, " I will kill him!"

" You will do no such thing!"

Zeus took out his lightning bolt and blasted the center of the room. When the smoke cleared there stood a four-year old boy with raven black hair and sea- green hair.

" Percy," Poseidon breathed.

" Yes your _son_," Zeus spat, " I'm going to finish him off now so we won't have deal with him later."

"NO!" Poseidon boomed as he stood in front of Percy with a trident in his hand.

" Get out of the way Poseidon."

" Dad you cant kill him," I exclaimed, " the letter said to NOT kill anyone." Slowly everyone started lining up behind Percy except Jason.

" Fine," father said and sat down.

All the girls squealed when they saw Percy, even I had to admit he was cute. Annabeth took Percy and sat down.

" Hi, I'm Annabeth."

" I'm Percy," he said shyly.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"** **"—the water—"** **"—like it grabbed her—"**

" Awesome," Leo breathed.

Jason frowned.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy** **was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. **

"Yup."

**"Now, honey—"** **"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

" No never guess your punishment," the Stolls exclaimed.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

" Of course."

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.** **"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her. "I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. "But—""You—will—stay—here."** **Grover looked at me desperately.** **"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."** **Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

Nico and the Stolls shuddered. Even I had to agree it was scary.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast?**

" Monster."

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. I wasn't so sure. I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

" Chiron!"

" Sorry," he muttered.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

"Of course."

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.** **Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

" Oh no."

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it..."You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.** **I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

" Percy's being polite?" I asked amazed.

"why?" dad asked.

" Percy's not known to hold his tongue," Annabeth replied.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it? "The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

" Don't count on it," I said.

**I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am. "Thunder shook the building. "We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

" What?" Poseidon asked.

**I didn't know what she was talking about.** **All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

Everyone burst out laughing.

" This kid's gold!" Apollo exclaimed/

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. **

Another round of laughter.

**Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.** **"Well?" she demanded. "Ma'am, I don't...""Your time is up," she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.** **Then things got even stranger.** **Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. "What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the . Dodds lunged at a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament . Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

" Wimp," Jason mumbled.

Poseidon and I glared at him.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

" How does swinging a sword come naturally to a 12 year old?" Leo asked.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!** **Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my . Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

" Magic mushrooms?" Piper asked.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

" No."

**I went back outside. It had started to rain.**

Everyone stares at Zeus.

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

" Who?" Poseidon asked.

**I said, "Who?"**

" Like father like son," Athena said.

**"Our teacher. Duh!"I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, "Who? "But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

" Grover, you're a really bad liar," I stated.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious. "Thunder boomed overhead.** **I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."** **I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it."Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds? "He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

" Now Chiron can lie," Hermes proclaimed.

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher. "He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

" that's the end of the chapter, who's next?" I asked.

" I will sis," Jason volunteered.

**Hope you enjoyed it. Please review and check out my poll.**


	4. Sock of Death

**Hey everybody! Sorry for not updating in so long but ii have to worry about school and stuff. Anyway I'm asking if there's anyone out there who would like to partner up with me to help me write the reading the books series so I can focus on Chaos Commander and starting other stories. Pm me if you would like to. Also thanks for all those reviews. Now without further to do, chapter 4.**

Third Person

"**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death**" Jason read.

" Death?" Nico asked.

" That's weird, " Thalia commented.

Suddenly Grover paled. Annabeth threw him questioning looks which he ignored.

_Why does that sound familiar? _Hades thought.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly.**

" Hahaha, imagine that, Percy's not even at camp yet and his life is weird," Conner laughed.

**This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.**

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody,**

" That's not going to work," Athena said.

**just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

" He is," Chris laughed.

Everyone laughed too.

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

" How do I know it's Grover?" Thalia wondered.

Grover blushed.

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

" Knew it," Katie said.

" Grover even with our father's blessing, you wouldn't be able to lie," Travis laughed.

The throne room burst into laughter. Grover blushed.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, and then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

" Grover," Annabeth groaned.

**Something was going on. Something **_**had **_**happened at the museum.**

" No nothing happened," Will said with sarcasm dripping in his voice.

Everyone laughed.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

Annabeth frowned, she was extremely worried.

The tension in the room grew. Completely oblivious of the tension little Percy jumped up and down in excitement.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room.**

" What are you two fighting over now?" Hera asked.

" Don't know, probably his fault," Poseidon replied.

Zeus glared. He opened his mouth to say something but Jason quickly continued to read to prevent any fights from starting.

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

" Huh," Athena gasped. She turned to little Percy, " Bad Percy how can you have such bad grades."

" Me no bawd, theny, me no bawd," Percy stuttered cutely.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her frieds. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

Travis and Conner smiled proudly.

"That's our Perce," they said.

Jason glared jealously at the book. How come Percy got all the friends.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot.**

Annabeth and Athena started cracking stared at them weirdly.

" It means an old drunk," Annabeth answered. Everyone burst out laughing.

**I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

" It does," Jake laughed.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

" Mamma's boy," Ares mumbled. A blast of water hit his face. " Poseidon."

" Wasn't me," Poseidon said putting his hands up in surrender.

Everyone turned their heads toward little Percy. He was jumping up and down clapping his hands.

Everyone looked at him in awe. One thought ran through there heads _So powerful._ Jason glared jealously. Zeus motioned for him to continue reading.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view** **of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,**

" Awwwww," all the girls except Athena and Artemis cooed.

**even if he was a little strange.**

" HEY!" Grover cried indignantly.

Everyone laughed.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology **_**across my dorm room.**

" You should never throw books Percy," Athena lectured.

" Ok," Percy said cutely and smiled that would make anyones heart melt.

Athena's glare softened.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

" He does now," Grover said.

"How?" Poseidon asked worried for his favorite son.

No one answered.

**Or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

" I can easily," Jason bragged.

" Of course his mind is hard-wired for Greek although he can kind of speak it," Nico defended.

Jason glared at the ground.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

Travis and Conner smirked with an evil gleam in there eyes.

" That's a great prank," Conner said.

" Yup when Perce gets back we'll tell him the idea," Travis agreed.

" Get back from where?" Poseidon asked worriedly. No one answered.

" Something's wrong, you will tell us what's going in the future," Athena said. No one disagreed.

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**_

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

" Good."

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

" Our brother is the best," Thalia and Nico said in unision.

Poseidon smiled proudly.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. **

**Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said,**

_**"...**_ **worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

" Eavesdropper," Will commented.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school**_**! Now that we know for sure, and **_**they **_**know too—"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead line— **_**"**_

" What summer solstice deadline," Athena wondered as she looked at the demigods.

The demigods just stayed quiet. She sighed.

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he **_**saw **_**her... ."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

" Grover," Thalia warned, " It wasn't your fault."

" Huh, okay," Grover said.

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

" Percy, never give away your position, I guess you won't become an elite thief," Hermes sighed.

" Actually, Perce is pretty good in the future, he steals stuff to help our pranks," Conner replied.

" Uncle P are you sure he's not my son," Hermes asked Poseidon.

" No he's not Hermes," Poseidon answered.

" But…"

" Read Jason!"

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop, **_**like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.**

" Why would Chiron be in horse?" Rachel asked looking at Chiron.

" What, I needed to stretch," Chiron said.

Everyone in the throne room laughed.

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

" Satyrs can read emotions Perry," Dionysus said.

" Your paying attention sir?" Jake asked.

" Of course Jack, what do you expect me to do, drink?"

" Yes."

" Believe me, if I could I would," Dionysus responded.

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

" THREE HOURS!" Nico, Travis, Conner, and Leo yelled.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

" Oh no Percy's gonna take it the wrong way," Annabeth said.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear.**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips**

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

" Wimp," Ares muttered.

A ball of water hit Ares.

Ares glared at the creator which was little Percy.

Everyone burst out laughing.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy—"**

**But I was already gone.**

"See," Annabeth sighed.

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich **_**juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

" Nobodies huh," Katie asked.

" Maybe his father but surely not his uncle," Zeus stated.

Everyone chuckled.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

" That's rude," Aphrodite said.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

" Stalker," Chris coughed.

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

" Good instincts," Artemis commented.

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" **

" Must have scared the stuffing out of him," Chris laughed.

" Stuffing?" Clarisse asked.

" Yeah, stuffing," Chris, said.

Clarisse sighed.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"**

Everyone busted out laughing. Grover blushed.

" You are a terrible liar," Thalia said in between laughs.

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much **_**did **_**you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

" Yup everything is not much," Travis said sarcastically.

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"**

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

Everyone laughed.

Grover blushed.

**His ears turned pink.**

" Like they are now," Rachel said.

Everyone laughed.

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800)**_ _**009-0009**_

" Why is it so hard to read?" Demeter asked.

" It's funny to see them try," Dionysus replied with a shrug.

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

" Well, it's not exactly a mansion," Grover said.

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

" Harsh," Piper muttered.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

Piper blushed. Jason glared at the book in his hand.

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me.**

" Awwww," the girls coed.

**And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me.**_

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

Hades frowned _something's not right._

**The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

_Why does that sound familiar _Athena thought.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice**_**. **_**There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

Almost everyone except the idiots, cough Leo, Nico, Travis, and Conner cough, eyes widened.

_OH NO! _

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Everyone paled even more.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**" , huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

" Not funny Perce," Nico stuttered.

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

If possible, Nico paled even more.

Everyone let out a shaky laugh but the tension was to high.

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

" Grover, why didn't you drag him!" Thalia exclaimed.

" Sorry," Grover said.

" What's done is done, you can't run away from Fate," Athena said.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip **_**across four lanes of two friends balled up the electric-blue socks,**

Everyone's eyes widened.

" Why him, he always had the worst luck," Annabeth cried.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

There was a bit of shaky laughter.

_Only you Percy only you _Annabeth thought.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

"Of course, I starts now," Katie said.

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

" Everything," Clarisse said.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

" Worse boy," Hades said.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

" Huge deal, lad," Hephaestus said.

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

" Shut up Grover, you're going to get the poor kid killed," Dionysus exclaimed.

Everyone stared at him gaping because

1. He's paying attention and 2. Since when did he care.

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

" Some promise that turned out to be," Grover mumbled.

"**Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

" Good instincts," Jason commented.

**Again everyone shivered.**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

" Now its time for you to tell us, what's going on," Athena said.

The demigods could only nod.

**Whew, finally done. Well hope you all enjoy it. Please review. Thanks! I just updated this because I threw in the Romans out of nowhere. Thank you Anime Princess.**


	5. Finding Out

**Hey guys. I'm sorry for the long wait. Things have been so hectic at school. Oh and we won't die on 12/21. LOL! Oh and let's not forget, MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I would also like to give a shout out to the people of Connecticut. May the people who died be forever in our hearts. They didn't deserve it. People like that make me sick. I know what it's like to lose people your love so I'm sorry Newtown, Connecticut.**

Finding Out/ Reunion

Jason POV

" Alright it's time for you to tell us about the future," dad demanded.

" Fine…" Annabeth began but a bright flash cut her off.

And all of a sudden standing was… , " PERCY!" everyone screamed.

" Hey, what's up guys, I'm back," Percy said.

Everyone tried to tackle Percy to the ground. " Hey, hey, hey, one at a time," Percy called out.

" Okay, sorry to ruin the party but who are you?" dad intervened. Ugh thank god, I think I'm going to become sick.

" Well…" Percy started but got cut-off.

" OW, Frank get off of me," Percy yelled. Ha I stifled a laugh.

" Can you please get off of us Hazel?" Percy asked sweetly.

" Oh, sorry Perce, " Hazel blushed. Wait hey I remember her.

" Thanks Haze now OCTAVIAN GET OFF OF ME!" Percy yelled.

" Why don't I get to be asked nicely?" Octavian asked. Oh no not him.

" Because you're Octavian," Percy answered.

" Well ask nicely."

" GET OFF ME BEFORE I BLAST YOU WITH WATER FROM HERE TO EUROPE, THAT OR I'LL PUT SHAVING CREAM ON YOUR BED!" Percy yelled.

" Fine, fine sheesh, touchy," Octavian growled.

" Now that wasn't so hard was it, now your turn FRANK, GET OFF!"

" I'm up," the kid, Frank said a little too quickly.

" Now your turn Reyna, GET OFF!" Percy screamed.

" Why don't you ask me nicely?" Reyna asked, I remember her, I think.

" Ugh, just get off. You're heavy," Percy groaned.

I snickered quietly.

" Oh are you saying I'm fat," Reyna asked. Oh he's going to get it now. They went on arguing with Reyna on top of Percy. It stopped when Octavian interrupted them, " Ok enough love birds." Reyna and Percy blushed when she realized the position they had been in the past 10 minutes

" Thank you," Percy muttered, " Clubnugit **(A/N From Good Luck Charlie)**."

" What did you say?" Reyna screamed.

" Okay, enough, enough, explain already," dad bellowed.

" Well, as I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted. The fates sent me and apparently Reyna, Hazel, and Frank, to help explain the future. I don't know why Octavian is here though," Percy replied.

"Here's a note," Hazel said.

It read

_Dear everyone,_

_We have sent these five into the past to read the books and _

_explain the future. And no Octavian this is not a trick. You five _

_introduce yourself. Oh and try not to kill each other._

_Sincerely,_

_The Fates_

" Alright well I would like the five new ones to introduce themselves," dad ordered.

Reyna walked up first, " I'm Reyna, daughter of Bellona and praetor of the twelfth legion."

Then Hazel, " Hazel, daughter of Pluto." I think I saw Hades eyes bug out of his head.

Next came some Chinese looking kid with a buff body and a pudgy, panda face. I don't remember him, must be new. " I'm Frank, son of Mars and descendent of Poseidon." Did not see that coming.

Then him, " I'm Octavian, descendent of Apollo and the great augur."

Finally came the egoistic jerk, " Hey everyone I'm Percy, son of Poseidon." That's it, he isn't going to brag. Apparently Leo was thinking the same thing.

" Dude seriously, just son of Poseidon," Leo said.

" Yeah what else would I say," Percy asked.

" How about praetor of the twelfth legion," Reyna commented walking.

Wait praetor, he stole my position.

" Lord Zeus," Annabeth called out.

" Yes," dad asked.

" Can we have a moment alone with Percy to reunite and explain the future later?" she asked.

" Fine, you have 30 minutes," dad sighed.

Leo POV

OMG OMG I can't believe I'm going to meet and talk with the Percy Jackson. Ok now I sound like a fan girl meeting One Direction.

" Sooooo, what's up guys?" Percy asked nervously.

" What's up, that's all you say, after disappearing for eight months you say what's up?" Annabeth asked, more like yelled, incredulously.

" Yes?" Percy asked.

Then she tackled him. " I missed you so much," Annabeth cried into his shirt.

" Hey, it's okay," Percy soothed. He looked up at us with help me expression. Haha you're on your own buddy.

Then Annabeth stood up and slapped Percy, OUCH I thought.

" OW! What was that for?" Percy asked.

" What do you think, for disappearing for eight months without contacting us," Annabeth screamed then leaned back on Percy **(A/N UGH! Bare with me people. I suck at romance)**.

" So what's up?" Percy asked.

Suddenly Thalia walked up, more like ran, punched Percy and then hugged him.

" OW! What is with people hitting me today? Gees woman."

" You want to say that again?" Thalia asked.

" No mam. Missed you too Thals," Percy said hugging her.

Soon everyone tackled Percy to the ground, he got slaps on the back, hugs, kisses from the Aphrodite Cabin, which earned glares from Annabeth and surprisingly Reyna, and bro-hugs.

Then he turned to Nico, " NICO DI ANGELO WHAT THE HADES ARE YOU DOING HERE? AND DON'T YOU DARE SHADOW TRAVEL AWAY!" Percy yelled.

" Percy, calm down, what's going on?" Annabeth asked.

" Oh nothing much just the fact that HE WAS AT THE ROMAN CAMP AND PRETENDED NOT TO KNOW ME AND THEN GOT CAPTURED BY GAEA," Percy finished his rant.

Now it was Annabeth's turn to be mad, " WHAT! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US!"

" Sorry but Hera didn't let me. Please don't kill me."

Annabeth took a deep breath, " Fine I won't kill you."

" I don't believe I know these three," Percy pointed at Piper, Jason, and me. OMG I'm going to talk to Percy Jackson.

" I'm Piper McLean daughter of Aphrodite."

" Wow really I would have never guessed that, I thought you were a daughter of Athena," Percy said shaking her hand.

" I wish," Piper said.

" Well if you ever need to get away from them, I'm available."

" Thanks."

I bounced up to him, " Hi I'm Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus."

" Nice to meet you, I think I'm going to like you." YES, YES, YES! HE SAID HE LIKES ME. Percy Jackson is like my role model.

" I'm Jason Grace son of Jupiter, leader of Camp Half-Blood and praetor of the twelfth legion," Jason bragged. What's with him today?

" Umm nice to meet you," Percy said.

" We should get back," Percy said.

" You owe us hang out time," Travis called out. Soon everyone was yelling out.

" SHUT UP! Fine I'll spend time with everyone of you doing whatever later," Percy said. Wow I feel bad for him.

" Doing whatever?" Drew asked seductively applying lipstick. Ew!

" NOOOO!" Percy yelled, " Now let's go."

Reyna POV

Who knew Percy was so popular at the Greek camp.

" So, explain," Lord Jupiter, demanded. I could see Percy roll his eyes.

" Well in the future Gaea and her giants are a awakening." Cue gasps.

" Romans and Greeks have to join forces to defeat them so Hera switched Jason and I and plopped us in the opposite camps. Yeah and that's about it," Percy explained.

Five minutes later…

" Okay, now that that has sunk in, lets read, who would like to?" Lord Jupiter asked.

The girl, I think Katie raised her hand.

" Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants," She read with a raised eyebrow. Oh boy.

**Thanks for reading. Please review. Mean ones will be ignored. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!**


	6. Grover Loses His Pants

**Hi guys. Here is the next chapter. Thanks for all who has added me to there alert list and reviewed. If you would like to co-author with me please just pm me. Also pm me if you have ideas for one shots like the sirens scene. If you ideas for me to improve on my story than just let me know. Now without further a do. Let the reading begin.**

Reyna POV

**"Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants"**

Katie raised an eyebrow as she read.

Percy, Nico, Travis, Conner, Apollo, Hermes, and Leo (a.k.a the troublemakers) burst out laughing.

Grover blushed.

" How do you lose your pants unexpectedly Grover?" Travis asked in between gasp.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

" Percy, why would you do that?" Annabeth groaned.

" Katie, read," Percy responded.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"**

" Ok, that's is creepy," Annabeth, admitted.

" Wimp," Ares muttered. That earned him a cold shower. Ares looked up and glared at Poseidon.

Poseidon held his hands up, " Wasn't me."

Everyone looked at Percy to see he was looking around whistling, " What?" Everyone just shook his or her heads. Percy, Percy, Percy.

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up,**

The troublemakers started cracking up. Artemis, Hera, and Athena just rolled their eyes. Grover blushed.

**so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him,**

" Some promise that turned out to be," Grover muttered.

" Sorry," I'll bet a hundred drachmas who said that.

**then made a beeline for the restroom.**

" Nice, wait for the person to disappear than sneak away. Your sons got potential Uncle P," Hermes nodded in approval.

**Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

A bunch of the Ven- Aphrodite girls stared smiling evilly. Why do I all of a sudden get a bad feeling.

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

" Amazing," that was Katie.

" Talented," Travis.

" Smart," Annabeth.

" Awesome cook," Nico.

" Beautiful," Poseidon said dreamily.

Aphrodite and her children squealed.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,** **which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

" Wait, what?" Nico asked.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, **

Cue glares at Zeus.

**and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program.**

**Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

" That's so sad," Aphrodite sniffed. Artemis rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless.

" I don't get it," Athena said.

" Well that's a first," Poseidon muttered.

Athena ignored him and said, " The woman has great potential yet she is drawn to Kelp Head over here."

" What can I say. I just have that charm."

Athena looked like she wanted to protest but Katie continued reading.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

" AWWWW!" Aphrodite and her daughter except Piper squealed loudly.

" Babe tone it down before we go deaf," Ares said covering his ears.

" How is she your mom?" Leo asked.

Piper shrugged, " I don't know."

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.**

" I did visit you as a baby," Poseidon said smiling ignoring the glare Zeus gave him. Percy smiled back while the demigods stared at him in envy.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad.**

" That's so sad," Aphrodite sniffed.

**She has no pictures.**

" That's so sad," bet a hundred drachmas who said that.

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

" That's impressive. It's a lie," Hermes said.

" But not a lie at the same time," Apollo finished.

" Wow," the Stolls and the Hermes cabin breathed.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

" Biggest understatement of the century," Thalia said. I laughed, maybe the Greeks aren't so bad after all.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano,**

All of a sudden Percy glared at the floor. If looks could kill there would be a giant hole in front of him.

" What kind of name is Ugliano?" Leo asked trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

Suddenly a sea-green aura started to surround Percy dangerously. Annabeth looked at him worriedly, " Read Katie."

**who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him,**

**then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

" That's disgusting," Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. Everyone nodded very green. Apollo snapped his fingers and buckets appeared.

" Just in case," Apollo answered the questioning glances.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.**

Poseidon frowned.

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

" EWWWWW!" Aphrodite shrieked. Everyone turned greener and few girls even threw up in the bucket.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

" He asked you for cash! That pig!" surprisingly Artemis yelled.

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

" Even I can't make that _thing_ handsome," Aphrodite said turning greener. More people including me threw up into our bucket.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

Suddenly the room darkened and tension filled it.

" Percy, did he punch you?" Poseidon asked. Silence. " Percy, did he?" Percy nodded slowly. Everyone had their respective color aura surrounding them dangerously. For example, Poseidon had a sea-green aura, Nico had a dark, black aura with skeletons danced around him, Thalia had a sky blue aura with electricity sparking off of her skin, and Annabeth had a grey aura with owls flying above her and so forth. Suddenly they felt an earthquake, one that could rival that of Pompeii. Everyone turned to Poseidon.

" POSEIDON, STOP OR YOU'LL DESTROY OLYMPUS!" Zeus yelled over the racket.

Poseidon just gave a confused glance and shook his head as if to say it wasn't him. Then it everyone and everyone turned to look at Percy. Percy sat there with a dark, sea-green aura glowing around him, more dark and dangerous than Poseidon's.

" PERCY, STOP!" I yelled, but it was useless. It was almost as if he was in his own little zone, not hearing a word. Annabeth gave him a huge kiss as to try and calm him down and I spoke some comforting words. Eventually percy calmed down, " I'm sorry, kind of lost my cool there."

Kind of? This kid could destroy us if put into the wrong hands, was the thought running through the gods heads. All of a sudden, Percy walked out of the throne room.

" Where's he going?" Zeus asked.

" Why, concerned," Poseidon asked mockingly. Oh he had no idea, Zeus cared he just was to proud to admit it.

Zeus just stuck out his tongue maturely. I still couldn't understand how the gods we looked up to were so childish.

" He's probably going to the training room to cool down," Annabeth answered, " Who wants to see the great Percy Jackson in action?"

" Oh, I do, I do," yelled Leo and he ran out of the room. We chuckled and followed. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jason mumbling to himself with an annoyed look. I just shrugged it off. We snuck in in time to see Percy hacking at the dummies, but suddenly he stopped. I was scared he noticed us but he walked towards some buttons and pressed the top one.

" Is he crazy. That's 200 7 foot tall robots hurtling toward him," Hephaestus whispered/ yelled.

" He's Percy," all the older campers answered. We turned our attention back toward Percy to see him finishing off the last robot.

" Hmmm, 10 minutes, that beats my last time of 15 minutes," he mumbled to himself. We all stood there and gaped at him.

" You guys can come out now," Percy called, " It's kind of obvious you were watching. Well, let's go continue reading." We just stood there in a there shocked. " Um, hello?"

Leo was the first to break out of his trance, " YOU SIR ARE AMAZING!" Leo kept babbling on and on. Percy chuckled and guided him towards the throne room talking like old friends. I think Jason glared at them but I could've been imagining it. Then Katie continued reading.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

Cue green faces and not with envy.

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

Athena gasped. _If she's doing what I think she is doing, she is a very smart woman. _Artemis was thinking the same thing.

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

" Pig," everyone muttered, yes even Jason. Even Jason knew the limits.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

" At least someone is part human," Katie said.

**"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

Katie turned green, " I take that back." Everyone looked at Percy in sympathy. He ignored the looks, he didn't want pity or sympathy because he knew it would always be fake.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

" Done," Hermes and Dionysus exclaimed.

" D being nice, the world's going to end," Apollo said.

" Still hate them but there are still limits," Dionysus.

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

" I doubt your report card would be any better," Athena and Annabeth yelled.

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

All of the girls started puking. Even some of the guys started upchucking too.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

" Even in a time like this he can be sarcastic," Piper said.

" That's Percy," all the demigods except the romans and trio said.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

" Wow, that bad?" Frank asked. A few people jumped because they forgot he was there.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

" Momma's boy," Ares mumbled. Poseidon opened his mouth to say something when Percy beat him to it, " I wouldn't talk if I were you. I mean you still live with your parents."

" Watch it punk, I could slice you in half."

" Yeah sure. Your nothing but a coward," Percy shot back.

" Oh that's it," Ares lunged forward. A water wall block him a Percy used the hilt of his sword to knock him out. " Read," he said ignoring all the stares he got.

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room.**

" Awww," all the girls except Athena and Artemis cooed.

**Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

" Wow," was all that was said.

**I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

" Okay, either that lady has major talent or a lot of patience," Connor said impressed. Everyone nodded in agreement. Poseidon smiled with pride.

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop**

**in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

" Lucky," Nico, Leo, Travis, Apollo, Hermes, Chris, and Connor whined while drooling. Percy smirked and handed all of them a bag of candy, " It never runs out." The boys gobbled it up. The girls rolled their eyes.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

" Of course, boys," Thalia and Artemis said and they smiled at each other.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"**

" Oh I'll give him a bean dip you douche bag," Thalia growled.

**I gritted my teeth.**

Like everyone else in the room.

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire,**

" That's not always so great Perce," Rachel said. Piper nodded in agreement.

**not to some jerk like Gabe.**

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself.**

**I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

**Until that trip to the museum ...**

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

" Don't lie," Hermes said. Everyone looked at him weirdly, " What?"

" You are not our dad," Chris said.

Hermes rolled his eyes, " In this case, he needs to tell his mom the truth so they won't face danger."

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

" Not to her, she's clear-sighted," Poseidon urged.

" Again, I didn't know," Percy rolled his eyes.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

Poseidon beamed.

**"Three nights—same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

" Well maybe if he didn't gamble they would have enough money," Hera yelled.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

" Okay, that's it. Where is he and how fast can I kill him?" Thalia asked.

" Taken care of already but next break who wants to do some damage," Percy suggested. The big three kids grinned evilly and the people sitting around them scooted away.

**I wanted to punch him,**

" DO IT!" everyone screamed.

**but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

" Darn it," everyone muttered.

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

" Of course they were serious you little b****. Go rot in tartarus," Hera growled.

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

" He better or I will do some permanent damage," Poseidon said gripping his trident tightly.

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

" Mmmm, bribery. That always works. I like her Uncle P," Apollo said licking his lips.

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

" WHAT! NOT THE CLOTHES!" Aphrodite shrieked.

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

Aphrodite grumbled some more.

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

Percy started laughing. Everyone guessed the car didn't make it.

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip**

" Maybe if I throw you in the fields of punishment," Nico suggested.

**... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game." Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

" DO IT!"

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

" Awwww."

**Why did she put up with this guy?** **I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

" Its for you Percy," Athena whispered.

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain**

" If he even has one," I said.

**was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.**

Everyone gritted their teeth and growled under their breath.

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

" Oops," Percy said and he and Grover started laughing.

" Like he would be the one driving," I said.

**Like I'd be the one driving.**

I blushed at saying the same thing as Percy. Jason glared at the floor.

**I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair case as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

" That is beast man," Leo said doing a man shake with Percy.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders**

Athena, Annabeth, and the Athena cabin shuddered.

**in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

" Does that even bother you?" Hephaestus asked.

**I loved the place.**

" Nevermind."

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

" AWWWW. THAT'S SO ADORABLE!" Aphrodite shrieked. Everyone had to cover there ears.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

" So that's why you were attracted to her brother," Hades commented.

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

" What's with the blue food? That's my color," Zeus commented.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

" Yes you should," Zeus said indignantly.

" Brother, you're talking to a book," Poseidon said. Everyone laughed.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

" You have more than a streak Perce," Grover said.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

Poseidon and Percy beamed at each other.

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

" You know, now that I think about it. Percy actually looks like a copy of you while you other children only has your eyes," Hades said observingly.

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

" I don't care about those things," Poseidon assured. Percy beamed at him.

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

All of the gods looked down ashamed.

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

" I did visit you once when you were a baby," Poseidon smiled. Percy smiled back. The other demigods stared at the two in envy wishing they and their godly parents relationship was like that.

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...**

**I felt angry at my father.**

Poseidon looked down ashamed.

**Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom.**

**He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

" I'm sorry but the ancient laws," Poseidon trailed off. Percy smiled to assure him it was okay.

" Do you all feel this way?" Hestia asked.

The silence in the room gave the answer and the gods were even more ashamed.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

" Percy," Annabeth gasped.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

" Good," Annabeth nodded.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away." **

" How sad," Aphrodite sniffed.

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

" You are not normal even by demigod standards," Hazel said.

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are.**

" He is," everyone chorused. Percy blushed.

**I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

" Oh just a few monsters, titans, gods and giants," Nico said casually.

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

" Why is a Cyclops stalking him?" Apollo asked.

Poseidon shrugged, " Probably to check up on him."

**`Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

" Woah like Hercules," I breathed.

" I'm nothing like Hercules," Percy snarled.

Wonder what happened everyone except Annabeth, Grover and Thalia wondered.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

" See demigods are selfish that they would put their parents life in danger," Hera said.

Percy glared at her, " Look just because we want to spend time with our parents isn't selfish. You wouldn't understand what we go through. We do all your dirty work but get nothing in return. We don't ask for much. We just want some love and recognition in return. You would be lucky enough if you had a mortal parent and meeting our godly parent is unheard of. I don't understand how reading these books could help cause all gods are selfish, end of story." Every word he said grew louder and his breathing heavier.

" How dare you insult me? If you ask me, you don't know a thing about family?"

" Me, I don't know a thing about family? You hypocrite. You could learn a thing or two about family. You threw Lord Hephaestus of Mt. Olympus because he was imperfect for heavens sake. So don't lecture me on family when you don't know anything about it yourself."

The gods stared open-mouthed not knowing what to say.

" Percy, I'm sorry," Poseidon said.

" Don't. I don't want your pity. Read Katie."

Katie read a little hesitant worrying for Percy. I was too, this reading might not be good for Perce at all.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

" The best!" Chris yelled. Everyone cheered.

" Camp Jupiter is just as good," Frank said.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

" Oh no," everyone groaned.

" Percy's dreams are the worst," Annabeth explained.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

Everyone looked at Poseidon and Zeus. They just shrugged.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion.**

The older demigods looked at each other knowing who it was.

**I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes,**

" Ha, I win," Zeus cheered jumping up and down like a little kid. Poseidon rolled his eyes.

**and I screamed, No!**

" Of course he would go for his dad," Hades said.

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

" Yeah, Uncle P why'd you forget?" Apollo asked.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

" Why?" Leo asked.

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—**

**and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be...**

" What?" Leo asked impatiently.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"**

**Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

" Finally. The end," Zeus said, " Who wants to read next?"

Percy raised his hand, " I will."

Percy took a breath took read but there was a sudden bright flash. In its place stood…

**Okay guys there you have it. The next chapter. Sorry if it was a bit rushed. The offer still stands for if anyone would like to co-author with me. Also pm me if you have any one shots you would like me to write like he sirens scene. Please, please, please review. Until next time…**


	7. Bullfighting Mothers

**Hey there guys. Thank you for the reviews. I love you guys. Anyway moving on, I'm sorry for not updating in a while. I've been really busy. I would also like to give HUGE thanks to my beta Complement Giver. Without her I wouldn't be able to make this chapter great. So everyone thank her. Anyway enough of my babbling presenting the next chapter.**

Percy POV

There was a bright flash and in its place stood… the…. Heroes…. Of the old.

No way. There in front of us standing proudly was Orion, Theseus, Perseus, and oh f**k. D**n and of course the f***ing bastard Hercules, had to be there.

" My lord, why have you called us? Do these demigods need saving or help?" Hercules asked while bowing.

" We didn't call you," Zeus said.

Suddenly a note popped up out of nowhere…

_Dear Heroes of the past,_

_You have been brought here by us to read_

_a book about a hero. Please try not to kill anyone,_

_Percy._

_Sincerely,_

_The fates_

Suddenly everyone stared at me.

" What?"

" So you are Percy. You seem like a pushover to me," Jerkules said.

" Watch it buddy," I said getting ready to put him in his place.

" Okay, calm down Perce. I think this is what the fates mean by not killing anybody," Thalia said.

" Whatever. How about we have a fight cause I really want to understand what everyone see in you?" Hercules uttered.

" Fine. After this chapter," I agreed.

" This is going to be epic!" Leo yelled.

" Alright now that is put aside. Introduce yourselves heroes," Zeus commanded.

" I'm Orion, son of Poseidon and hunter."

" Theseus, scholar, slayer of the Minotaur, and also a son of Poseidon."

" Perseus, slayer of Medusa, and a son of Zeus."

" And you all know me, the almighty Hercules, slayer of the Nemean Lion, completer of the 12 labors, and son of Zeus."

" You forgot and egoistic jerk," I muttered.

" What was that?"

" Okay, demigods introduce yourself," dad commanded.

I stepped up first, " Perseus, Percy, Jackson, defeater of much but can't say because it is in the books, and proud son of Poseidon," I said smiling at Orion and Theseus.

They looked surprised but smiled back.

( A/N This is where everyone introduces themselves. I don't want to write it all out)

" Now that, that is out of the way. Let's begin reading," Zeus said.

**"My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting" **I read

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

" My kind of driving," Ares grinned.

" Yeah, the kind that always sends you to infirmary and your motorcycle to my workshop," Hephaestus said.

" No one asked you, you old, deformed …thing," Ares said, struggling for the right word.

Hephaestus was about to respond when I began reading to avoid a fight.

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

" Can that be a thing?" Travis asked.

Everyone groaned. " No that can not be a thing," Katie proclaimed.

" But…"

" Percy, read please."

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo— lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

" How do you even know what that smells like?" Hermes asked.

I shrug.

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"**

" Smooth," Nico said.

I smacked him. " OWWW."

And continued reading.

**Graver's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

" Stalker!" Apollo, Hermes, Travis, Connor, Leo, Nico, and surprisingly Orion and Theseus yelled.

Everyone looked at Orion and Theseus oddly.

" What, just cause we're ancient doesn't mean we don't know fun, you learn a few things from being dead," Orion said defensively.

" We're going to get along with each other just fine," I laugh.

**"Watching me?"**

" Stalk.."

" Okay we get it. Stalker, now read Perseus," Artemis interrupted.

I did so a bit miffed because she called me by my full name.

**"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend.**

**"Urn ... what are you, exactly?"**

" Straight to the point I see," Apollo observed.

**"That doesn't matter right now."**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"**

Everyone in the throne room even Jason and Hercules, although they had there own reasons, burst out laughing, while Grover blushed.

" That was his first guess? That was way off," Thalia laughed.

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty"Blaa-ha-ha!"**

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

**"Goat!" he cried.**

**"What?"**

**"I'm a goat from waist down."**

**"You just said it didn't matter."**

" He got you there Goat Boy," Annabeth said. Grover blushed in embarrassment.

**"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"**

" Haha I would love to see that," Jason cackled. Everyone, except Hercules, turned to glare at him.

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

**"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand myth,Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

**"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

" Percy, let it go," Annabeth sighed exasperated.

" Sorry."

**"Of course."**

**"Then why—"**

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

**"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.**

**"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

" Just about everyone titan, god, and monster known to humanity," Connor said casually.

Poseidon gripped his throne looking like he would pass out.

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

**"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

" Very helpful Grover," Thalia said.

**"Grover!"**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.**

" No imagination. How is magic mushrooms no imagination," Hephaestus said incredulously.

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

" Almost there," Poseidon muttered.

**"Where are we going?" I asked.**

**"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

**"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

" Well when you say it like that. It sounds ridiculous," Hermes admitted.

**"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."**

**"Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

**"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

**"You meant 'you.' As in me."**

**"I meant you,like'someone.' Not you,you."**

" You did say 'you' Grover," Annabeth said.

**"Boys!" my mom said.**

" Finally. Thank you," Artemis exclaimed.

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

**"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question.**

**"Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

" Please, please, please," Poseidon chanted, unable to pray as he himself was a god.

**I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.**

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island.**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

" No, I thought she wanted to do the tango," Travis said.

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!,and our car exploded.**

" WHAT!" Poseidon yelled.

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**

" Ow, that's got to hurt," Leo said sympathetically.

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

**"Percy!" my mom shouted.**

**"I'm okay..."**

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning.**

" DAD!" Thalia yelled glaring at her dad. Zeus tried to look anywhere but at his daughter whose electric blue eyes tore into his soul.

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

" Awwww," all the girls except Artemis and Athena cooed.

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

**"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player.**

**He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

Athena gasped, " No, it can't be."

Poseidon looked at her in confusion and worry.

**I swallowed hard. "Who is—"**

**"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

**"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

" Hey there's me," Thalia uttered enthusiastically.

" What?" Jason asked.

" It's in the books," Thalia explained.

**"What?"**

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

**"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

**"Mom, you're coming too."**

" She can't," Demeter whispered.

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**

**"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me carry Grover"**

**"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises.**

**As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands—huge meaty hands—were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns …**

" They are horns," Athena said, exasperated by the sheer lack of intellect.

**"He doesn't wantus," my mother told me. "He , I can't cross the property line."**

**"But..."**

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

**I got mad, then—mad at my mother, at Grover the goat,**

**at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

" So loyal," said Persephone admirably.

_Maybe too loyal… _Athena thought.

**"I told you—"**

**"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under wear—**

**I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—which would've looked funny,**

**except that the top half of his body was so scary.**

**Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

Everyone who hadn't figured it out before gasped now realizing what it was.

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

" Wow. Even in the face of death you could be sarcastic," Hera said.

I just shrugged.

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"**

**"Pasiphae's son," my mother said**

**"I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

**"But he's the Min—"**

**"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

" She's smart. How exactly did Barnacle Beard get a smart woman like her to love him?" Athena asked.

Dad opened his mouth to say something but I continued reading to prevent a fight.

**The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.**

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

**"Food?" Grover moaned.**

" Sorry," Grover said sheepishly.

" Its okay buddy," I said reassuringly.

**"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

**"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

" Unbelievable. She is amazingly talented. I think I'll give her my blessing," Athena declared.

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

**Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.**

**Oops.**

Everyone in the throne room burst out laughing, yes even Jason and Hercules. Even they weren't as bad as Gabe.

**"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way— directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

" That's a strategy worthy of Athena," Annabeth said and Athena nodded in agreement.

**"How do you know all this?"**

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."**

**"Keeping me near you? But—"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

" You should have just left me," said Grover sadly.

" You know I would never do that G-man," I smiled and he smiled as we clapped hands.

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing.**

" Finally you realize it," Athena said.

**So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

Poseidon let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

" No," dad exclaimed.

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.**

" That's thinking optimistically," Ares rolled his eyes.

**The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

" NO!" dad yelled.

**"Mom!"**

" SALLY!"

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone**

_But how? _Nico thought on the brink of tears.

Everyone was devastated having taken a liking to Mrs. Jackson.

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

" Oh yeah. Cue butt-kicking Percy," Chris exclaimed.

**Percy balled his fist, wishing that this store of energy could have come in time for him to save his mom.**

" Don't blame yourself Perce," Annabeth comforted.

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that.**

Percy and Grover smiled at each other and fistbumped.

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

**"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

" Before anyone can say anything, I was twelve and can come up with better insults now," I said as Ares and Clarisse opened their mouths.

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

**I had an idea—a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all.**

" All your ideas are stupid," Thalia said and I stuck my tongue out at her.

**I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

" Of course," Thalia said.

" Guys, I think Poseidon is going to burst," Annabeth pointed out.

And sure enough Poseidon was sitting there holding his chest.

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

All the future people except the lost hero trio looked at each other, one thought running through their heads, _Kronos._

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

" Woah."

**How did I do that?**

" That's what we want to know," Hephaestus said.

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

All the demigods except the heroes of the old winced.

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

" Ewwwwww," Aphrodite squealed.

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

" Yes, you finally realized," Athena proclaimed.

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

**"Food!" Grover moaned.**

" Sorry," Grover blushed,

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light,**

**and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might.**

" Not going to happen punk," Hercules and Ares grunted.

**The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—snap!**

" You were saying?" I said. Everyone laughed at their expressions

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

" Great now you have a weapon to fight back," Reyna uttered.

**The monster charged.**

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone.**

There was silence… then… cheering.

" You are a beast, a beast," Leo exclaimed clapping him on his back.

I smiled then continued reading after the cheering had died down.

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish.**

The tense atmosphere returned as they were reminded of the loss.

**I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm house. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.**

The girls smiled at Percy sadly not bothering with cooing.

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.**

Annabeth blushed as Thalia whispered in her ear. " A princess huh."

**"They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

" Yeah, he's the one Annabeth," Nico said teasingly.

Annabeth blushed.

**"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

" And that's the end," I said.

" Alright now let's get to our fight," Hercules said.

Zeus nodded and flashed everyone out of the room.

**There you have. Please review. Review, review, review.**


	8. Author's Note

**Authors Note**

**Hey guys. I'm really sorry for making you guys think this is a chapter but this is really important so please read it. Alright everything's been going great until I got a review saying they have reported me for copying previously published work and he/she didn't even have the guts to log in and say it.**

**Here's the review exactly.**

: Reported for copying from a previously published work. You will be reported until removal or suspension of account.

**I'm pissed that some person thinks they can just walk in and say they are going to report me. So yeah, I just wanted to say that, my beta, Complement Giver helped me so you guys need to fight back if you still want stories from me. Thanks. Love you.**


	9. Percy vs Hercules Showdown

**Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait. Anyway I would like to thank everyone for his or her support with when I got that awful review. Its good to know there are people whom like my writing. It means a lot to me. I would like to give a shout out to my beta Complement Giver. Give a hand for her. She's awesome and helps me edit. Here is the fight between Percy and Hercules. Please enjoy.**

The Epic Most Epic Fight of the Century

Leo POV

Holy Hephaestus! This is going to be one hell of a fight. My idol, THE Percy Jackson, is going to be taking on Jerkules…I meant Hercules.

" This is going to be EPIC!" I yelled out loud.

" Hell to the yeah," I think Travis agreed.

" Of course it is. I'm going to be fighting," Percy said.

" Someone's egoistic," Jason sneered. What's with him? He's being a jerk. Hehe, brothers are alike.

" Say after this fight, who wants to plan the biggest and best prank known to humanity," Percy suggested.

" Hades yeah, see that's why we love and missed him so much. Percy 'kick-ass' Jackson, is a beast," Connor exclaimed.

Percy smiled mischievously in a way you would think he's a son of Hermes.

" Alright enough talk, let's fight," Hercules said swinging his sword.

" Alright, lets do this," Percy agreed taking out a pen. Seriously a pen, what the hell is that going to do to a person. Then he clicked it and it popped into a sword. Ohhhh, now that makes more sense.

" So apparently you are worthy of holding Anaklusmos . I wonder why?" Hercules scowled.

" Like you were ever worthy, you mother**king pig, no that would be an offense to pigs, you manwhore, son of a a**hole and a f**king b**ch," Percy yelled enraged. What was going on? I had no idea, all I knew was that Hercules just pissed of Percy.

" Oh you're talking about Zoe huh? Yeah well she was great, perfect for using and you know what else?" Hercules smirked at Percy's red face, " Perfect in bed too."

It took all of the male gods except for Poseidon and Hades to hold Artemis to stop her from killing Hercules by now. Everyone in the room, yes even Jason (he's knows how to treat a woman), was glaring at Hercules.

" How dare you. You are not even worthy to speak of her. Now you've done it," Percy gave the worst glare ever, I think Hercules pissed in his pants.

" Oh no," Annabeth muttered.

" What do you mean oh no?" Piper asked.

" Hercules has just crossed the line. I've only seen that glare once and the poor thing didn't know what hit him. Hercules just asked for a death wish cause this isn't an ordinary fight anymore, it's a fight to the death," Annabeth explained, " Calm down Percy, you'll kill him."

" He deserves it." And with that the fight began.

Hercules rushed in at lightning speed and dealt a blow that would've been disastrous if it was for Percy's quick reflexes. Hercules swung his sword once again which Percy parried. He slashed back and rolled whenever another blow came his way.

" Aren't you pathetic? Can't even fight? And you know what, man is Zoe so gullible," Hercules said.

Percy saw red after that and just starting slashing and stabbing right and left, never giving Hercules a chance to swing back.

" What is Hercules doing?" Piper asked.

" He's trying to make Percy to mad to think properly but Percy different. Anger only fuels his energy and power, it makes Percy almost unbeatable especially when it comes to his friends," Annabeth exclaimed. They heard a yell and turned back to the fight.

A bolt of lightning struck down as Hercules yelled, hurtling toward Percy. Percy brought a wave in front of him just in time.

" Fine, you want to with powers, I'll fight fire with fire," Percy muttered.

Percy created a whirlpool and threw it at Hercules, then he ran behind Hercules and stabbed him in the gut and blood dripped out. Suddenly Percy was riding a hurricane and flew at Hercules and slashed at Hercules. Hercules was barely able to defend himself from Percy's quick blows.

Then Percy slammed down on a button on his watch and a shield popped out of nowhere, what the hades. He slammed the shield into Hercules and he fell to the floor.

" Let's rumble," Percy muttered and let loose a scream. I think the actual ground started rumbling. Okay, now I'm sure its rumbling. It was such a strong earthquake that everyone, even the gods, was knocked to the ground and took cover under the benches. This earthquake was probably a 9.0 and poor, not, Hercules was at the bottom feeling it.

When the dust cleared we could see Percy repeatedly punching Hercules.

" Percy, stop you'll kill him," Annabeth yelled pleadingly. Blinded by anger, Percy continued thrusting punch after punch at Hercules.

Suddenly there was a flash and in its place was three old, and I seriously mean old, ladies.

" Stop Perseus Jackson," they said in unison, weird.

Percy looked up and glared at the voice that stopped his fun, but his glare faltered as he saw whom it belonged to. Seriously who's afraid of three old ladies, I just lost some respect for him.

" Why did you stop me, mi ladies?" Percy asked.

" By doing so, fate will not be altered. We should know how important fate is. We sent him into this reading so he could be taught a lesson and he has. When he wakes up he will see a new light," the ladies sa-, wait, oh hades no, these aren't just any old ladies, they're the fates.

Percy snorted," Very unlikely."

The fates turned to the rest of us, " Now you see, you are to never piss Percy off or we may not stop you in time. May that all of your fates be bright," and with that they disappeared.

Zeus, **thunder**, excuse me, Lord Zeus was the first to snap out of his demeanor and called over a medic to take Hercules away.

Percy looked around and at the damage and looked down in shame. Huh, I didn't realize the amount of damage until now.

" We will first repair this room and then will get back to the reading," Lord Zeus commanded.

Percy looked up, " Look guys, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, I just saw red and i-i-I'm sorry."

Annabeth kissed him, my eyes, and hugged him and snuggled into him.

" You did it to defend a friend. More importantly Zoe. I have not met a man as selfless as you in over a millennia. You have earned my respect," Lady Artemis said.

Everyone was shocked especially the gods.

Apollo was at lost for words, " You just.. and he… I mean. What?" That was pretty funny.

Theseus and Orion came forward and gave Percy a noogie.

" I'm so proud of you little bro, finally someone with a backbone who can put Hercules in his place," Theseus exclaimed.

Percy pouted, " I'm not little."

Perseus came up and nodded, " Thank you. Sometimes I wonder how I'm related to him."

Percy nodded in return.

Poseidon came up and pulled Percy into a bone-breaking hug, " Oh Percy, I'm so proud. You have so much power and you stood up for what you thought was right."

Percy beamed with pride in return and Annabeth kissed him.

" That was beast," Travis exclaimed and they had a man-hug.

" I knew you would give us a fight we would never forget," Connor yelled, " And I got everything on camera, I'll be selling it soon."

Reyna came up and slapped him. "OW! What was that for?"

" You idiot, you could've gotten killed," then she came for a hug, " But I'm glad your okay." Percy hugged her back and I think Annabeth's face turned red.

Nico came forward and gave Percy hug.

Thalia also went for a hug, " Thank you so much for standing up for Zoe. She would have liked that."

" Of course, any time. I'll do it again if I had to," Percy smiled softly.

" You, Percy Jackson, is a badass. That was AWESOME!" I yelled coming up from behind.

" Thanks, you guys still up for the prank, maybe on someone else?" Percy asked.

" We never say no to a prank," Connor and Travis said.

" What is this about a prank I hear?" Hermes, Orion, and Theseus asked.

" Yup, we're deciding to pull the biggest, best prank known to humanity," Nico said, " You guys in?"

" Hades yeah," they all yelled. Then Lord Zeus walked in

" Now, let's begin reading now," Lord Zeus announced, " Who would like to read?"

" I would," Nico said, I Play Pinole With a Horse."

**Please review. Tell me what you think. Are the characters too OCC? And please when you review, only constructive criticism not plain mean things. I would love to learn how to improve on my writing. Anyway please review.**


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